Follow God. Lead the Church. Change the World.

The Blessing of a New Day

What if … we were to consider each day a blessing of God?

Drew Carey debuted the new game show The Power of 10 last week. The public is asked different questions, polled and the contestants have to guess what percentage answered a specific way. The second airing asked a question something like this, “What percentage of people surveyed said they are living the American Dream?”

A conversation followed in our household: What is the American Dream? You have to define that before you can answer.

The American Dream is in comparison to what? Countries that are wartorn, that know famine, drought, and disease. The site globalrichlist.com allows you to punch in your annual salary and see where you really are in comparison with the rest of the world.

Finally, we said that we don’t care about the American Dream, we care about God’s dream for us. By the way, the answer to “What percentage of people surveyed said they are living the American Dream?” was 47%. (Pretty high we thought, especially with the war and the current low approval rating of the President.)

God has promised to bless his people. Genesis 12.1-3 talks about the promise of blessing to Abraham, that Abraham will be a blessing, and that all peoples will blessed through him. Galatians 3.6-9,14 reveals that this blessing is that the Messiah will be born through him. The salvation of all peoples will come through Abraham. The son he longed for and waited for so long, was not just a blessing to Abraham and Sarah, he was a blessing to all people, because from his lineage would come Jesus Christ.

The ultimate blessing in our lives is that of salvation, that of knowing and being in relationship with God. As we spoke last time about how God’s mercies are new every morning, I wonder, what if we were to rise each morning first giving thanks to God for the day. What if we were to consider each new day a blessing, a gift from God.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in “Life Together”, “For Christians the beginning of the day should not be burdened and oppressed with besetting concerns for the day’s work. At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it.”

He also says, “The first thought and the first word of the day belong to God.” The psalmist says, “My heart is steadfast, O God, My heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre!I will awaken the dawn. (Ps 57.7-8)

Let us purpose to awaken each day with praises to God, for the gift of a new day, a day to be lived for his glory!